No Politics for You!
Krikor Daglian
January 18, 2001
Until I decided to take a little vacation last week, I was planning to write about the big news in NY radio, the shake up at 102.7 WNEW. Alas, Andrew had the same idea, although I'm not convinced, as he is, that the station's not worth listening to. Although WNEW, once a proud and storied institution of rock radio, gradually fell apart during the Nineties as it lost its identity as a leader in breaking new bands and in playing interesting music, it has evolved into a very entertaining station to listen to. Not that the amusement is intended - much of the fun comes from hearing all the problems plaguing the station. Opie and Anthony, brought in to the station in the summer of '98, let it all hang out (at least, that's how it seems) on their often controversial talk show, regularly questioning the decisions of their boss, giving the inside scoop on the radio biz in NY, and describing the fiasco that is WNEW. Ironically, despite their tendency to go overboard with their stunts, they have been among the only stable elements at the station, as various personalities and shows have come and gone. Opie and Anthony have gained both popularity and notoriety , and although they frequently push the bounds of good taste, in my opinion they are consistently funny and entertaining. The other show worth hearing on WNEW is the Ron and Fez show - if you can find it, since it's been taking a tour of the timeslots lately (try 7-11 pm). The rest of WNEW is a wasteland, though.
For some reason, the neighborhood I work in downtown Manhattan is the "land before the merger". Phone booths are still emblazoned with the Bell Atlantic logo, a company that no longer exists as a result of their merger with GTE to become Verizon. Similarly, a whole building in my neighborhood that is some kind of regional HQ for Verizon still has the Bell Atlantic plaque on its exterior. It's a bit strange, but probably for the better, considering that the sight of the Verizon logo makes me a bit angry. In preparation for a move to Manhattan, I called Verizon to set up phone service. Coming away from the phone conversation, I was confident that I had signed up for local service with no bells and whistles that would tack on extra costs. How wrong I was. A few weeks into life in NY, a letter from Verizon arrived telling me the fabulous details of my "premium local service," including such essential features as voice dialing, and unlimited 411 (I think I have used 411 twice in my life). Another phone call fixed the problem, but there shouldn't have been a problem. I guarantee that if I had heard the word premium used in the original sign up, I wouldn't have chosen the plan I did. Apparently, I'm not the only one annoyed with Verizon - reading NY Press the other day (a fine little free paper if you live in NY, even if the views of some of its conservative columnists really piss me off), I found out about some more of Verizon's nefarious plans, namely, hiking the cost of local calls. Is anyone surprised that there are numerous Verizon hate sites out there?
A few years ago, I was taking the A-train downtown with a friend from out of town. In a nice moment of "only in NY" serendipity, we were treated to a show by a travelling troupe of three acrobatic kids on the long ride between 125th street and 59th streets. I had never seen this act before, and I was quite impressed by their swift movements and amusing performance. I felt they more than deserved the money I gave them afterwards, especially since one of their tricks sent the youngest one's head right into the ceiling. My small donation could well help them buy the medical services they will quite surely someday require (including the operation necessary on the day when the subway car suddenly brakes as one of the kids is doing his flip between the poles of the subway car). I bring this troupe up because I saw another set of kids perform recently on the same train. There act was a bit different, and I was a bit disappointed. I suppose that I should have expected that the art form would become watered down, but it was still upsetting to me that these kids put on a show half as long as the "old timers" (I mean, the ride between those stations has to be at least 7 minutes) and half as impressive in it's virtousity! I gave them a few coins, but I miss the old days.
I'll cut it short this week so I can get crackin' on that inauguration article I've been meaning to write. Have a good week.
